Quote:
Originally Posted by Robbie
I wonder why they failed? The space shuttle technology is almost 40 years old isn't it? And they had the money to do it obviously.
They have smart engineers and scientists just like the rest of the world does.
Why did they fail at it? It doesn't make much sense. (unless the U.S. had spies inside who were constantly sabotaging things)
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from the article where i first came across the images
The first launch attempt on October 29, 1988, ended with a mechanical failure; a platform next to the rocket took so long to retract that the rocket’s computer cancelled the countdown. The second attempt on November 15 was free of major technical issues, and at 8:00 in the morning local time at Baikonur Buran lifted into the sky on Energiya’s back. Eight minutes and 2.8 seconds later, Buran separated from the spent Energy core stage and fired its twin orbital manoeuvering units. A little over a half hour later, the Soviet shuttle was in a nearly circular orbit, 158 by 153 miles. An hour later, Buran’s software began its reentry and landing sequence. Battling headwinds and crosswinds, the orbiter landed one second earlier than planned.
The shakedown cruise was a technological success but the program on the whole was not.
The Soviet Defense Council approved Buran to run on a scaled-down level through 2000, but when the USSR collapsed in 1991 so did the Ministry of General Machine Building that had developed the Soviet shuttle. The separate design bureaus running individual programs were transferred to the Russian ministry of the Industry, but NPO Energiya was among the bureaus that failed to cooperate in this new arrangement. When these bureaus were eventually streamlined into the national Russian Federal Space Agency in 1992, there was no provision to retain Buran-Energiya. The shuttle left homeless, and though the program was never formally cancelled, it never left the ground for a second mission. Four orbiters in various stages of completion, including one known as Ptichka (little bird) were left to languish. Buran was destroyed in 2002 when the hangar housing it collapsed.
Why the Soviet space shuttle was left to rot | Popular Science